While Nobody features a whole lot of senseless violence from once scene to the next, it comes as no big surprise given the screenwriter’s track record. The mastermind behind the John Wick series (Derek Kolstad) took his talents to the drawing board for dare one say just as equally thrilling of a Hollywood feature film (perhaps a sequel is in the works?). Despite the fact that movie theatres are slowly but surely opening up again to the public, your typical movie-goer is still opting into at-home binges versus watching in-person once again. Under normal circumstances, seeing Nobody in a massive theatre with surround sound and a giant, crisp picture would perfectly accentuate the action-packed film’s ridiculously wild yet equally grotesque side.
As someone who seems to put being a family man over everything else, Hutch Mansell (Bob Odenkirk) has a dark past and urges that begin to unravel quickly. Everything changes in the lives of the Mansells when an intruder holds the family up at gunpoint. Rather than roughing up the criminals when he has the chance, Hutch instead ruminates on the attempted robbery and later seeks revenge in ways no one thought possible for someone of his alleged character.
Despite his vengeful butt-kicking ways, there’s still always something endearing yet elusive about Mansell’s character. Does he know that his past could eventually catch up with him, causing harm to his loved ones?
The first hint of Hutch’s background (although cited as military in the movie, it’s clearly something other) was the reaction someone had to seeing a pair of cards tattooed on his inner wrist. That man sheepishly thanked Hutch for his service and then locked himself in a bulletproof safe room with about ten locks to ensure safety. Who in the world is Hutch, and why is he out to get everyone?
Hutch proceeds to get involved with the wrong crowd yet again, but this time it’s the Russian mob. Flirting with death on numerous occasions, Hutch keeps doing what he does best: kicking everyone’s butt for the heck of it, so it seems. Thankfully, his entire family escapes from the action unscathed and stay as far away from Hutch as possible until a later reunion. Now, it’s pretty clear who Hutch gets his ways from as his dad (Christopher Lloyd of Back to the Future fame) comes along for the quest in taking down the mob rather than sitting in the nursing home where he usually resides. Because, why not? Adds a little excitement to everyone’s lives.
After all is said and done, the so-called Nobody’s personal records have been virtually wiped from existence – even in the database belonging to the Feds.
This begs the question, then: if this guy’s a Nobody, what does that make the rest of us folks with records attached to our names? - Liz Kobak